Poclain 75 CKB

[Jeremy Rowland]

I made it up there today and got some useful work done on both the Hymac and the Poclain; for quite some time now I have been wanting to get the undercarriage of this machine properly clean, especially as Tim Brown has kindly volunteered to paint it with his spray gun, anyway I managed to get it onto Andrew's wash down area and gave her a good blast with the pressure washer.

Jeremy

[essexpete]

So does/or will the Poclain knock the dots off the Hymac?

[Jeremy Rowland]

So does/or will the Poclain knock the dots off the Hymac?

Pete I would have to say yes she does and I can see why people liked them, the Poclain is a very powerful machine compared to the Hymac but to be fair to the Hymac you need to consider that she is a lot older machine based with a totally different hydraulic system and a different weight class too.

I suppose that when the Poclain was brand new it was a much more expensive machine than say a Hymac 590C which was of a comparable size and many businesses go on price rather than quality, okay so sadly I've never had a go in a 590C to make that comparison but compared to the old 580BT she would run rings around it.

Jeremy

[Jeremy Rowland]

Back up to the machines again today; I got started early and took some of the rust off the undercarriage after which I applied some primer, many thanks to Tim Brown who kindly sprayed the undercarriage getting it done just before the weather took a turn for the worst. Anyway I came away happy that a bit more was done, it is my intention to concentrate on the Poclain for the immediate future but I will put the Hymac back together once the new steel pipe has arrived.

Jeremy

[Nick Drew]

Looking good Jeremy, top job mate!

[Jeremy Rowland]

Well the weather finally did brighten up yesterday and so I pressed on with a bit more painting; I managed to remove the rust and crap from off the left hand bonnet cover and get a coat of primer on there which after having left to dry in the now warm sunshine I quickly got a top coat on there. One annoying thing was when I lifted the rear bonnet cover to access part of the machine, I found that she had thrown the engine cooling fan drive belt which I have been told these engines are forever doing.

Any way I always check the drive belt is on before I fire her up; I did not refit the belt this time but will do so all being well on my next visit.

Jeremy

[essexpete]

Good stuff Jeremy. Is the belt just a bog standard type section? I wonder if quality or construction of the belt can make any difference?

[Jeremy Rowland]

Good stuff Jeremy. Is the belt just a bog standard type section? I wonder if quality or construction of the belt can make any difference?

Yes Pete it is a standard Deutz belt I did wonder if there was anyway it could be made better or if a slightly different profile belt would ride the pulleys better?

Jeremy

[Jeremy Rowland]

As stated above my intention is to try and concentrate on this machine for the moment, and one of the jobs I want done is for the whole machine to be painted. Arriving early my first task on the Poclain was to refit the cooling fan drive belt, there is a spring loaded pulley which provides the correct belt tension, the pulley spring is still very tight but I managed to get the belt back on without having to take any bits off the engine.

Once refitted I cracked the motor up and took a quick look to check that all was well, the self tension pulley was moving from side to side against its own spring pressure, whether this is normal or not I don't know but now have half an idea of what the problem may be. That said my intention that day was to try and get the machines boom and dipper arm painted, the correct colour for the red is RAL3000 which my local supplier had a 5ltr can of fast air drying gloss paint in stock.

I got the boom and dipper cleaned from any rust using an angle grinder and flap disc; I already possessed some acid etch grey primer in aerosol cans which I quickly sprayed onto the areas of bare metal, this dries quite quickly and as the weather was good I snatched the chance to get the job done. This was my first ever attempt to spray paint using a compressed air paint gun, I must say that I was not overly happy with the finish, however the machine looks a whole lot better than she did before.

Jeremy

[essexpete]

Getting there Jeremy. How far from home are the diggers?